Ever looked inside the German "Guardian"?

AchimEngels · 27 February 2002, 07:50 AM

Hi Folks,

while preparing these for a new "In Detail"-publication I thought it would be of interest to you to take a look inside the "PHYLAX".

This is the 1911 version, a forerunner of the later popular WW1 instrument that can be found in almost every German plane.

Enjoy!

Achim

charles · 27 February 2002, 09:39 AM

You do fantastic work, Achim. You are the Mark Miller of German aircraft instruments! Congratulations.

leo · 27 February 2002, 10:39 AM

Nice drawings! How were they made? AutoCAD?

AchimEngels · 27 February 2002, 10:47 AM

Thanks a lot!

No, these are done in a software called "Turbo Cad Solid Modeler", but I will soon switch to 3DS MAX once I get my new machine!

There will be more coming soon!

Achim

AchimEngels · 28 February 2002, 06:50 AM

Here are two more for you.

I have done a lot of these and will now start to work on the text for the publication. So it may be a while until I can return here

Achim

Charles, once I have finished this book I will return to you with the Halberstadt fin. Did you have had a chance in the meantime to do some scans of good photographs?

AchimEngels · 28 February 2002, 06:53 AM

It just missed to pop up with the other posting!

charles · 28 February 2002, 07:29 AM

Achim, I will photo the halb. fin in a few weeks. Everything is packed-up as our house is being renovated, but that's almost done.

1 March 2002, 03:02 PM

Great work Achim!!!

Question: what type of mechanical concept does this unit employ? I think it might be tension, but I am not sure. Can you explain in basic terms how it operated?
I would love to know, as I own a Morell tachometer that was manufactured in Leipzig, with a s/n # 84592. The circular inspection tag has the following markings:

19
A5 X
17

It seems to be painted in "albatros grey", with a face graduated 300 - 1600. Can you also help me indentify
anything significant about this tach?

Regards,

JASTA75

Mark_Miller · 1 March 2002, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Thanks a lot!

No, these are done in a software called "Turbo Cad Solid Modeler", but I will soon switch to 3DS MAX once I get my new machine!

There will be more coming soon!

Achim

Achim
Nice looking renderings

I will be curious to hear your views on 3Ds as compared to CAD.
I've been thinking about making the switch myself.

of course....
I've been "thinking" about it for 2 years now

Mark

AchimEngels · 1 March 2002, 08:16 PM

Jasta 75,

A basic explanation...hmmm...well here we go:

At the rear you can see that shaft that is connected to a revolving drive that comes from the engine. In the case of this one it was not driven from a gear but directly from the engine at a transmission ratio of 1/1. Later models like yours did use different transmission ratios. I have seen such as 4/9, 5/9 an 2/5 and such things. This seems to indicate that there have been produced different drive gears by the engine manufacturers or by such who manufactured the weapon synchronizing mechanism.

Anyway this shaft drived the vertical inner axle wich is carrying the large revolving ring. This ring will be moved by the centrifugal force of the revolution out of its 45° degree position to the axle. The degree it will move depends from the number of rotation the engine delivers. By moving it pulls down the brass slide on the same axle which in turn pulls down the steel rod that comes from the pointer drive. This way the revolutionary movement of the engine is transformed in a up and down movement of the slide and the original pointer drive which by it will again be transformed into a rotation movement of the pointer by means of the gear drive.

It indeed is a very brilliant instrument.

In 1913 the company changed the graduation of the face from 500 - 2000 RPM by suggestions of the various companies that used that instrument to the range yours has. From that date on no such instruments like mine have been produced anmore.

Your´s for sure also is changed in respect to the shape of the oil filler cap on top. My early version is closed on top by a sring loaded plate that was manufactured by a foreign britisch company which also held a patent on this. Later it was changed to the well known spring loaded ball system. I do not know when the painting sheme was changed from black to grey, but I have not seen a war time tach in another color than your grey.

However, mine was painted bright black with no primer coat below it.

I think you may like my small book on this once finished. Send me your E-Mail address and I will send you a note upon release.

Here is a small teaser for you (the introduction)

"An Introduction

In the early days of aviation the need to supervise the smooth running of an engine used for aeronautical proposes, as opposed to one used with automobiles, was obvious. Several companies started more or less successfully, to put their ideas into the production of useful revolution counters.

Among the most successful designs can be considered the “PHYLAX” that was produced by the German company of Wilhelm Morell.

“PHYLAX” originates from the Greek and can best be translated as “GUARDIAN” or “WARNER”. The choice of this name explains the importance that the instrument had in increasing the safety of early aviators.

The basis of this publication was the restoration of an original 1911 type “PHYLAX”. During its restoration all dimensions were carefully noted and fixed with sketches (which are shown in the Appendix of this book). By showing all the photographs taken during the restoration process and by publishing the 3D artwork that was generated using the dimensions taken, the way the “GUARDIAN” worked and its design shall be documented here.

We truly hope that this latest publication in our “In Detail” series will pay full justice to the simple brilliance of this amazing little instrument. That shows, not only via mechanical means, but also dynamically, the revolutions of the engine, almost independent from any other influences.

At this point we would like to pay special thanks to our friend Peter Cohausz, who kindly provided the original sales prospect by the company of Wilhelm Morell a copy of which is also provided at the end of the book.

Thanks also to my friend Bil Hardenberger for making this readable!
"

The book will also cover a restoration report on my one including all dimensioned sketches done during the restoration as well as the original companie´s prospect of the instrument.

Mark,

I must admit that I do not have any experieance with CAD so I can not compare both ways to create such models.

Are you talking about this switch? If so, wich one will you do?

If you need some documents for your model let me know.